Edotco Malaysia said on Friday it has deployed a new fixed wireless access (FWA) solution in Uma Lesong, Sarawak that it’s also pitching as a viable and scalable model for other underserved communities in geographically challenging areas.

The solution – which was first piloted in August 2025 – uses a combination of fibre and LEO satellite backhaul for extra flexibility. It also supports mobile-to-Wi-Fi connectivity, which enables user devices to automatically switch from 4G and 5G to Wi-Fi when they move out of cellular coverage range.

Following the successful pilot, residents are now provided with free Wi-Fi internet access of up to 5GB per user monthly, with additional usage options available through affordable top-ups.

Uma Lesong is a longhouse community of around 1,200 residents across 10 blocks within a valley surrounded by dense forest and hills. While the village is located only 1.45 km from the nearest telecoms tower, the terrain creates severe connectivity challenges, said Uma Lesong’s chief, Huvat Laing.

“Most of the villagers here are elderly, while many of our children work and live in other parts of Sarawak. Before this, many of us had to walk or travel more than one kilometre away from the village just to get a mobile signal or internet connection to contact our families. During emergencies, communication was extremely difficult,” he said. “Our grandchildren also struggled with online learning because connectivity was unreliable. This initiative has brought a huge change for our community, and we are very grateful that Uma Lesong is finally connected.”

The FWA solution was developed by Edotco and its Sarawak-based partner Kejuruteraan Rasshin, and supported by technology partners VSD Communications and Aminia.

Edotco group CEO Adlan Tajudin said the project in Uma Lesong reflects a “fundamental shift » in how rural connectivity challenges are addressed, and presents a scalable, cost-efficient blueprint for nationwide deployment to accelerate rural connectivity across Malaysia.

“For too long, rural connectivity has been constrained by geography. What we are demonstrating in Uma Lesong is a shift – from building more infrastructure to designing smarter solutions that work even where infrastructure cannot,” he said.

Five network and infrastructure items from around the globe to catch up with: … [visit site to read more]

NEC and its subsidiary Netcracker Technology have completed the acquisition of US software company CSG Systems International, strengthening their telecoms software and digital services portfolio.

The deal combines Netcracker’s OSS, BSS and AI-driven automation capabilities with CSG’s customer engagement, payments and business support software business.

Following the acquisition, Netcracker will oversee the integration and operations of CSG, while NEC will provide strategic and governance support. Netcracker chair and CEO Andrew Feinberg has been appointed chairman and CEO of the combined business.

The companies said the merged platform will focus on AI-driven automation, cloud-native software and digital service management aimed at telecoms, broadband and digital service providers.

NEC CEO Takayuki Morita said the acquisition strengthens the company’s global digital services business and enhances its ability to provide end-to-end solutions for operators undergoing digital transformation.

Netcracker CEO Andrew Feinberg added that the combined business would create a more integrated platform spanning customer engagement, monetisation and operations, while helping operators adopt more AI-driven business models.

The Kenyan government has given social media platform X, formerly Twitter, three months to establish a physical presence in the country.

Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy William Kabogo has explained that X is currently operating under temporary authorisation while compliance talks continue.

According to ITWeb Africa, Kabogo told senators on Wednesday that the requirement forms part of broader efforts to enforce child protection and content moderation standards on platforms with large audiences in Kenya.

The argument appears to be that if a company has offices in Kenya and is accused of issues arising from its platforms, it can then be held accountable in that country.

In addition, it seems that an expanded framework has been granted to the regulator the Communications Authority of Kenya, which can now suspend the operations of digital platforms that breach local rules or fail to comply with directives issued through the country’s communications governance structure.

Other social media platforms are apparently facing heightened scrutiny, including TikTok and Meta.

There is a wider context to this; the growing influence and reach of social media in Kenya. In fact in early May the Media Council of Kenya, an independent national institution established for the purposes of setting, and ensuring compliance with, media standards, published its State of Media 2025 Survey (available at the MCK website) which revealed that social media has overtaken television as Kenyans’ primary news source. Indeed, 39% of respondents cite it as their main platform.

Television followed at 31%, radio at 19% and other sources made up the remainder. Overall, 74% of Kenyans now use social or digital media platforms for news.

Access to social media is dominated by mobile phones; the figure here is 91%. WhatsApp (19.8%) and Facebook (18.2%) are still the most popular platforms, followed by TikTok (14.9%) and YouTube (12.3%).

More than half of Kenyans do not regularly visit news websites, underscoring the fact, as the survey puts it, that social platforms have become the primary gateway to news.

Ericsson, China Mobile and Chinese handset maker Oppo revealed on Wednesday they have successfully tested network slicing at the consumer device and app level on a live 5G Standalone (SA) network.

The test – which was carried out on China Mobile’s commercial 5G SA network in the city of Dezhou in Shandong province – leveraged existing network capabilities, and covered application scenarios including uplink for livestreaming, short video download and upload, multiple functionalities with AI-powered glasses, and providing a robust connection for mobile gaming.

For example, the application-level slicing test detected when short videos or uplink livestreams were buffering on Oppo devices, which then automatically notified the user and offered to switch the traffic to a dedicated slice for better connectivity if the user agreed to do so. Combined with radio resource partition, network resources were prioritized and allocated to short-video or uplink livestreaming apps.

China Mobile said slicing option enables uplink livestreaming and short-video to achieve a more than a twofold improvement in network performance, while latency for gaming scenarios was reduced by at least 30%.

For Oppo’s AI glasses – which use cloud-based AI agents and sport an object recognition feature – China Mobile and Ericsson leveraged user-level slicing and latency-priority scheduling technologies for the uplink and downlink to reduce round-trip time latency for object recognition by at least 30%.

Ericsson said the test successfully achieved fine-grained resource allocation and isolation at both the user and application levels, delivering validated results for typical services in terms of guaranteed throughput and latency optimization on the existing 5G network.

That said, Ericsson added that the commercial deployment of these slicing capabilities “still requires further ecosystem maturity and broader support from commercial terminals.” Ericsson, China Mobile and Oppo said they will collaborate to jointly advance that ecosystem.

The continued expansion of Lightpath is now taking the company beyond its metro roots and into the longhaul fiber business. The New York-based fiber builder and operator has announced plans to build out a new diverse route between Columbus, Ohio and Chicago, Illinois. … [visit site to read more]

Heirs Insurance Group has announced the launch in Nigeria of its multi-language generative AI assistant, Prince AI, which, it says, marks a major milestone in its digital transformation journey and reinforces its commitment to making insurance simple, accessible and inclusive.

With Prince AI, Heirs Insurance, which describes itself as Nigeria’s fastest-growing insurance group, says it becomes the first insurer in Nigeria to deploy a multi-language generative AI assistant. The AI-powered assistant delivers instant, intelligent responses not only to customer requests about Heirs Insurance products, but also to broader insurance enquiries, helping users understand coverage options, assess their needs, and identify the right policies for their unique situations.

Language is a key part of this offering. Prince communicates fluently in multiple local and international languages, including English, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and many more.

Beyond handling enquiries, the AI assistant enables customers to purchase and renew policies, and initiate and track claims. The chatbot is available across WhatsApp, the SimpleLife Mobile App, and the Heirs Insurance website, delivering seamless, always-on service experience across multiple digital touchpoints.

Peace Okhianmhense-Philips, Chief Digital Officer, Heirs Insurance Group, explains: “By embedding generative AI into our customer experience, we are not only improving speed and efficiency but also humanising insurance. This innovation allows us to connect more meaningfully with our customers, anticipate their needs, and deliver support that is instant, intelligent and accessible.”

Built on adaptive intelligence, the AI Assistant continuously refines its capabilities through every interaction. Personalised counsel is also offered if required.

Heirs Insurance Group, the insurance arm of Heirs Holdings, a leading pan-African investment company, serves both corporate and individual customers across Nigeria.

If there’s one part of the continental US that it’s been particularly hard to build out new intercity fiber, it’s what they call the Northern Tier. The lack of population density always made the business case hard to justify.  But in the era of hyperscalers and AI, that route is finally getting attention, and Lumen Technologies is looking to expand across it. … [visit site to read more]

Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN) announced Monday that its long-awaited Nusantara Lima (N5) broadband satellite is now live and ready to connect underserved and unconnected regions across Indonesia, as well as the Philippines and Malaysia.

The Nusantara Lima satellite – which has been in the pipeline since 2022 and was finally launched in September last year – was built on the Boeing 702MP platform and carries a payload of 101 Ka-band spot beams covering all of Indonesia.

According to PSN’s web site, it has established seven ground stations in Aceh, Bengkulu, Banjarmasin, Cikarang, Gresik, Kupang, and Tarakan to support Nusantara Lima’s operations.

While the satellite is designed to provide supplemental coverage for PSN’s SATRIA-1 satellite, which began operations in 2024, the satellite operator said it will also play a “crucial role” in providing connectivity to Indonesia’s « frontier, outermost, and underdeveloped » (a.k.a. 3T) regions.

According to the government’s Antara news agency, PSN president director Adi Rahman Adiwoso said the satellite is also set to support national connectivity in the Philippines, while PSN is currently exploring its potential use in Malaysia.

PSN has already allocated some of Nusantara Lima’s capacity for use in both countries, which each getting access to 20 Gbps, the report said.

“This proves that our neighbouring countries prioritize connectivity independence amid current dynamics of global politics,” Adiwoso said at an inauguration ceremony on Monday, during which he also described Nusantara Lima as “an important symbol for our nation in maintaining our own national independence.”